The 1966 Texas Western Miners basketball team, coached by 1987 Texas Sports Hall of Fame inductee Don Haskins, shocked the sporting world by winning the NCAA championship with the first all-Black starting lineup ever to play in the title game and becoming the first squad from Texas to win the NCAA basketball title. The team triumphed over the heavily favored, all-white Kentucky Wildcats with a 72-65 victory on March 19, 1966—an iconic contest that marked a turning point for integration in college athletics. The five starters in that landmark game were Bobby Joe Hill, David Lattin, Orsten Artis, Willie Worsley, and Harry Flournoy, whose performance and perseverance remain celebrated as a symbol of progress and equality in sports history. The Miners had a 28-1 record in 1966 while having to overcome hostile crowds and segregated hotels. In 2006 Disney released the feature film. Glory Road, which was based on Texas Western’s historic season. The team was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. The Miner’s victory was also cited by the NCAA as one of the “25 Defining Moments” in the organization’s first 100 years. The 1966 Texas Western Minors are the first team to be inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
